U.S. Rep. Dean A. Gallo, 58, New Jersey Republican, Dies

By ERIC PACE

Published: November 7, 1994

United States Representative Dean A. Gallo, a Republican from Parsippany in Morris County, N.J., who was not running for re-election, died yesterday at St. Clare's-Riverside Hospital in Denville, N.J. He was 58.

He had been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, his spokesman, Robert LeGrand, said.

Mr. Gallo was in his fifth consecutive term in Congress, having been elected first in 1984, and was a member of the House Appropriations Committee and its subcommittees on energy and water development, veterans affairs and housing and urban development.

In Congress, Mr. Gallo championed a variety of environmental causes. After the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, he pushed for passage of legislation mandating double hulls on oil tankers, which was enacted.

He and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, introduced bills that would require the Census Bureau to adjust poverty data to take into account geographical differences in the cost of living. For decades, the statistical poverty line has been uniform throughout the country. The new legislation focused attention on the topic and drew strong opposition on Capitol Hill from legislators representing Sun Belt states.

Mr. Gallo's prostate cancer was diagnosed and treated in 1992, and on Aug. 23 of this year, he withdrew as a candidate for re-election in the November general election. At the time, he said he had been informed over the Fourth of July weekend that his prostate cancer condition was no longer in remission and would need further treatment. He also had hip replacement surgery in March.

On Aug. 23, Mr. Gallo said, in a statement released by his office, "It has become increasingly clear to me that I will not be able to give the constituents of the 11th Congressional District my full measure of service while at the same time concentrating on my personal healing process." He also said that he would serve out his fifth term and that he would have not have become a candidate for re-election this year if he had known the extent of his medical problems.

Until Mr. Gallo withdrew, he was considered certain to be re-elected by his affluent Congressional District, which includes Morris County and parts of Essex, Passaic, Somerset and Sussex counties. In June he won a hotly contested primary election.

When he withdrew, New Jersey's Governor, Christine Todd Whitman, declared in a statement: "New Jersey will lose a thoughtful and forceful presence in the Congress with the withdrawal of Dean Gallo. He has been in the forefront of every effort to assure that New Jersey is treated fairly and equitably in Federal programs."

Mr. Gallo's membership on the House Appropriations Committee and its subcommittee on energy and water development enabled him to assist in easing the progress of legislation involving projects in New Jersey, including the authorization of a $1.9 billion flood-control project for the Passaic Basin, which has not obtained the necessary endorsement from Governor Whitman.

He was replaced as the Republican candidate by Rodney Frelinghuysen, a State Representative. The choice was made by Republican committee members from the towns in his district. The Democratic candidate for Mr. Gallo's seat is Francis X. Herbert of Sussex County, a former State Senator.

In 1984, when Mr. Gallo first won election to Congress, he was the minority leader of the New Jersey State Assembly. He defeated Representative Joseph G. Minish, an 11-term Democrat. Because of redistricting, the makeup of the 11th District had changed dramatically, which made Mr. Minish's campaign that year an uphill battle, he said afterward.

Mr. Gallo was born in Hackensack, N.J., attended high school in Boonton, N.J. and went on to become, in 1956, a longtime partner in the Gallo-DeCroce real-estate firm in Parsippany. From 1968 to 1971, he was vice president and then president of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council. He also was elected a Morris County Freeholder and was Freeholder Director from 1973 to 1975.

He was elected to the General Assembly in 1975 for the first time and re-elected four times. He was its minority leader from 1982 to late 1984, when he resigned to take his new Congressional seat.

Mr. Gallo married Betty Schmidt in September while being treated at the hospital.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by two children from an earlier marriage, Susan and Robert, and a sister, Debbie Sanders.